Work-Life Balance, Work-Life Blend, Life Blend

There’s something about the term “work-life balance” that seems a bit… off. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with its essence wholeheartedly. Things should be in balance, in harmony. You moderate things to make them sustainable, to produce a net positive in your life (and others’) instead of a net negative.

The concept of work-life balance is first learned intuitively, not intellectually. Do you remember the first time you encountered the term? I don’t. But I’m quite certain that the second you or I first heard it, even despite a lack of explanation or definition, we understood it immediately.

Intuitively, we know its essence. But then if we try to define it intellectually, it somehow falls apart for me.

Work – Life – Balance. It’s just the wording, I think. The wrapper of this concept or idea we know deep down we want to strive for, or to uphold.

When you say the word “balance,” the image that pops into my head is of a scale (think symbol of Libra), or a fulcrum in the middle of a lever, with equal weights on either side.

Balance, dictionary definitions:

• Noun: an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady
• Verb: to equalize in weight, number, or proportion.

So for me, it evokes this image of balancing, with 50-50 proportions, work and life. Half the time you work. Half the time you live life. That that is somehow what we should strive for, the equation for a happy and meaningful life. I don’t know about you, but despite liking symmetry, balance, and math, I’m not a fan of that equation.

Blend, dictionary definitions:

• Noun: a mixture of different things or qualities.
• Verb: to form a harmonious combination.

This might be a better way to think about it: a blend instead of a balance – “work-life blend.” Because the big picture meaning of a life that is work-life balanced varies from person to person. It doesn’t have to be 50-50. You can choose to dedicate, say, 33% of your time (or energy) with work, and the rest to life outside of work. Or 25% Work, 75% Life. Figuratively speaking, of course. My intention is to merely illustrate that you can play around with this. What might be the right blend for you, (and you know this already) might be different from your peers.

“Work-Life Balance” aims to define a concept wherein the premise is that work and life are two separate things. On one side of the scale there’s work, on the other there’s life.

No wonder it’s hard to balance. It’s unbalanced to begin with. Life, of course, should be given more weight. This is how I think about it (arranged in no particular order):

For me, it’s really less about balancing two things – work and life – but more of creating a satisfying blend out of all those things. Life is all of the above, including work. It’s up to us to create a harmonious combination of all those things that make up life. A Life blend that works and feels right for you.

Of course, any meaningful and worthwhile pursuit does not come without effort. And patience (I’m still working on mine!). Playing around and experimenting to see what’s the right blend for you means you have to push boundaries, push past conventions, and try to really see – what’s possible here?

For the people who have been lucky and wise enough early on to have chosen work they are passionate about, that they’d happily continue to do even if it didn’t pay them, this is no issue. Work doesn’t feel like work; it cancels out. So then it’s just life!

And that might really be the ultimate goal: to get to that point where work doesn’t feel like work. Or to get to a point where you don’t need to work for money. And then it’s just life. But in the meantime, this might be a useful framework to view things as you go along. Happy Blending!

~ Epilogue

There’s an article in Forbes magazine on “The Evolving Definition of Work-Life Balance.” It points out that the term means differently to different people and generations, and highlights the importance of redefining what it means for the current generation of workers.

It goes on to convey the views of different generations:

“Baby Boomers and Work-Life Balance,” saying that baby boomers didn’t really have “work-life balance” in their minds (and in fact, the term wasn’t invented yet, not until the 80s). They needed to work hard because the times were hard. They worked to survive. And they were loyal to their jobs. Then, “Gen X and Work-Life Balance: As the children of the Baby Boomers, Gen Xers grew up witnessing the long hours and poor work-life balance of their parents. Many Gen Xers were exposed to the effect such a relationship with work had on the family unit. As a result, this generation put more emphasis on creating work-life balance in their own lives… Gen Xers tend to think of work-life balance as a necessary prerequisite to a company of employment.”

Then came the Millennials: “Being a millennial comes with its fair share of stereotypes. Generally, for those born between the years of 1981 and 2000, work is thought to be secondary, or ‘just a part of life.’”

As a millennial, I laughed. Because I fit exactly in that stereotype! 😉

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